Nintendo has lost a patent lawsuit, forcing a ban on the sale of the Wii Classic Controller and GameCube controllers in America.
So if you are yet to buy a Classic Controller or want new GameCube controllers (such as for playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl or old GameCube games) then you might want to act fast, as they may become even harder to find than they already are.
The $21 million dollar patent-infringement court ruling concerns the analog sticks in the Classic Controller and GameCube controllers, which Texas-based Anascape Ltd. claims to hold a patent on that Nintendo violated that “covers six types of motion simultaneously”. The court has ruled in favor of Anascape, and U.S. District Judge Ron Clark has rejected Nintendo’s request for a new trial. As a result, Clark said he will put a ban on the sale of the controllers (which includes sales of GameCube systems) starting today, July 23, unless Nintendo posts a bond or puts royalties into an escrow account. Although Nintendo can carry on selling the Wii Classic Controller while the appeal waits for its conclusion.
Thankfully, this will not effect the Wii Remote or Nunchuck controllers, which were deemed to not violate Anascape’s patent.
According to Doug Cawley, Anascape’s lawyer, his client argued for the ban because Anascape wants to enter the market itself, and they claim that Nintendo has “clogged the channel.”
Previously both Sony and Microsoft have had to deal with Anascape in their own lawsuits. In 2004 Sony licensed their patent. While Microsoft settled out of court with Anascape on May 1st before the trial began.
Via 1-Up